A New Journey A New Life
by Lykex
Summary: Forced into a time sleep, Azmaria and Joshua reawaken and find themselves in the dark world of the 21st century. From there they must fight new devilish demons, face fierce criminals as well as the horrors of... highschool? It's CC with a teen twist!
1. Prologue: Asleep in Time

**A/N**: Hi, I'm new at this whole new fanfic thing. So no flames please! (I don't know what 'flames' are, but they sound really _mean_.)

Disclaimer: I don't own Chrno Crusade. Though I'd be honored if Daisuke Moriyama turned this into the first anime based on a fanfic. 3

(If there hasn't been one yet.)

**Prologue: Asleep in Time**

It has been four years since the death of Rosette and Chrono...

The Magdalene Order is now suffering from the effects of the Depression and the looming shadow of WWII.

Azmaria Hendric, a young militia from the Order silently went to her room, reflecting on what happened earlier that day. That day had been especially hard on her, for she was sent by Sister Kate to check the mental status of the 'crusaders'. The crazed looks on their faces as they shouted blasphemy after blasphemy still left a disturbing image on her timid mind.

As she made her back to the convent later she was pained to see so many homeless people wandering aimlessly about. Some where sleeping on benches, others lining up for jobs or food.

_Lord why is this happening?_ She asked herself as she entered the convent gates. However she was surprised to see that so many other homeless were lining up here too. That's when she saw some of her fellow Sisters serving food. Even though, they were doing this for others, they all looked exhausted.

Just then, she overheard two men talking nearby. Both of them really stood out from the crowd for their clothes were clean and well-trimmed. They were probably rich folk.

"Look at 'em Johnson," said one man with a fine mustache, "givin' everythin' they've got to feed the needy but give it a few weeks, this place'll close down and then it'd be their turn to line up."

"Yeah," agreed his companion, an impish miser with a long nose and a thick cigar, "do me good business though."

"Why's that?"

"Lotta fine young gals they've got cooped up in here... if it closes down they'll be ripe for the pickin hehehe..."

With that the two men strolled away laughing as they did. Azmaria couldn't believe what she just heard.. but she had too. In fact she met more and more people who thought the same way, even amongst the Order.

As she quietly entered her room, she thought of all the people that were suffering out there...right now. So many people getting sick and dying because of the hunger and poverty, while here she was, unable to do anything...

Distraught, she fell down on her knees and cried bitterly at her own helplessness. Years ago she could've just sang to make all the pain and misery go away but now she had lost her power just as she lost the ones she loved.

As the hot tears trickled down her smooth face she placed her hands together and prayed harder than ever before. So hard her hands shook.

_Lord please! Please! Help me!_ _A lot of people are starting to doubt You! They no longer believe in the power of Your love for them. Please Lord, give me the strength... the strength to help everyone again. So that everyone will be happy! Please!!!_

After her prayer she slowly stood up and her eyes fell on the picture frame on her bedside drawer. It was the picture she took on that memorable day at the carnival. On that day Chrono, Rosette, as well as Azmaria's good friend Satella were still alive.

As the young nun looked at the smiling people within the simple frame, she remembered how Rosette always tried to help relieve people of their pain no matter how much pain she herself was in. That's what Azmaria admired so much about her.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door.

"Come in..." she replied as casually as she could.

When the door opened she was a little surprised to see that it wasn't nun who came in but a little brown haired girl. It was a member of the Azmaria's children's choir.

"Oh, Millie! What are you doing here?" Azmaria asked quietly as she quickly tried to dry her tears.

"Everyone's waiting for you Sister Azmaria, you promised to lead choir practice today." the little girl replied innocently.

"Oh, that's right." she said taking Millie's hand gently, "Well, let's go"

After a while. As they neared the choir building.

"Sister."

"Yes?"

"Were you crying?"

"Huh?"

"Your eyes are all red and puffy." Millie pointed out.

"Oh..." said Azmaria wiping her eyes again, "It's just... everyone's been so miserable lately, but I can't seem to do anything to cheer them up. Sorry..."

"Why don't you try being happy first?" the girl suggested.

"What?"

"You once told me...'You can't give people what you don't have.' So if you wanna make everyone happy shouldn't you be happy too?" Millie replied sweetly putting both of her tiny hands on Azmaria's.

Azmaria giggled and finally smiled. "Yes, your right. Thank you Millie..." she said a she bent down and kissed the girl's cheek.

"Hee-hee!" the girl giggled.

Meanwhile, at the roads leading out of New York Harbor...

Joshua Christopher, Rosette's last living relative heaved a huge sigh. _Man, _he thought, _what a long week! _He'd been gone for nearly two years to Europe in order to assist the Magdalene Order's evacuation of the hapless innocents from Hitler's regime. His book made him so surprisingly famous (even among adults) his influence made the perfect tool to help people.

As the car drove down the usual route to the Magdalene Convent, Joshua saw the many homeless people wandering around and was halfway thinking of using his fortunes to help when Ewan Remington's voice called out.

"Hey!"

"Huh?"

"You sure you don't wanna stop by and rest. You know how Azmaria hates it when you push yourself."

At the mention of the young nun's name Joshua suddenly perked up.

"I-I'm fine!" he stammered his face blushing, "A-and...I'm not tired, really! In fact I can't wait to see her again!"

"Uh-huh, really? Just so you know though," Remington said in a mock serious tone "Azmaria's still a nun..."

At this Joshua's blushing face turned a bright shade of red.

"W-wait! I didn't mean it like that! It's just that it's been nearly two years since I last saw her and we've been only sending letters to each other. I just wanna see how she's doing. I heard things have been hard on her since the Crash."

"Uh-huh..."

Ewan took a look at the young man's face from the rear view mirror and smiled. Joshua was still blushing.

In an attempt to change the subject Joshua said,

"Hey, speaking of those letters. I sent Azmaria a letter with a copy of my book but when she wrote back... I couldn't help but feel how sad she was when wrote it. Do you know why?"

At this Ewan's face saddened. When Joshua noticed it he added carefully,

"And another thing, it's not just Azmaria. Even you Ewan. Everyone at the Order seemed to remember something really sad every time you guys read my story."

After a short while Ewan finally replied,

"Sorry Joshua... but it's confidential to the Order. We're not suppose to tell anyone. Especially you.

"It's about my sister isn't it?" said Joshua, a hint of bitterness in his voice.

Ewan turned his head and finally looked directly at the young man. _He must over eighteen by now, though his heart is still probably a few years younger_.he thought. Joshua's golden blonde hair and tall young frame made him almost look like a younger version of Ewan. Except for the eyes. Rosette's eyes. Even though Ewan had the same color, Johsua's eyes were more like blue sapphires that shone even in the darkest placest. Those eyes reminded Remington of the same young woman who gave so much to save all.

As the car steadily passed through the gates leading into the convent's grounds. Remington turned to Joshua and said,

"Look, if your really that desperate to find out more about your sister why don't you officially join the Order? I hear Sister Kate's still saving you a position, in the Militia too no less."

"Yeah, but does she seriously think I'm ready for something like that?" the boy replied rather sheepishly.

"Well, you never know Joshua... You never know..." was all Remington could say.

Inside the choir building, Azmaria had just finished their first rehearsal when one of the children spoke up.

"Sister, please sing us a song."

"Again?" Azmaria replied rather shyly. Her face flushing.

"Yeah, you sing better than any of us. Besides we've always wanted to sing like you. It helps us sing better too." said one of the little boys in the group.

"O-okay." she answered.

The children giggled happily and huddled closely to hear her sing. Azmaria took a deep breath, placed her hands on her heart and sang...

Then it happened... like a great, vast wind suddenly went through her. Not just through her body, but through her soul. A great vast light shone forth and cast its luminous glow all around her.

Outside, everyone was mesmerized by the power of such an angelic voice. Joshua stood still, eyes wide open. Then suddenly another great light shone, this time from him.

"Joshua!?" Ewan called out, but one look at Joshua's eyes told him that the young man couldn't hear him.

Meanwhile something happened within Joshua's mind. It was like someone started playing a film in his head. All his missing memories played out before him; every single detail still intact. From the incident at the Seventh Bell orphanage, to the time when he was under Aion's control. However, the last thing that played was completely different from the rest. He saw Chrono, his childhood friend, and Rosette, his beloved long-lost sister, sitting together. They faces were calm and Joshua would have thought they were asleep. If it weren't for the fact that their faces appeared to be too peaceful for something as casual sleep...

_Rosette...Chrono..._

After that, the light vanished and he was standing once again on the convent grounds.

"Joshua?" Ewan called but knew that Joshua still didn't seem to hear him. Somehow he knew what the young man just saw in his mind.

After a while, Ewan was suddenly shocked to hear Joshua speak. Not, because it was so sudden but because the boy just spoke the names of two people Ewan thought he had forgotten forever.

"Rosette...Chrono..." he mumbled.

"What!?" Ewan exclaimed.

Joshua turned, looked at Ewan and repeated,

"Chrono...my old friend and Rosette... my dear sister. They're-"

"Dead." Ewan finished grimly.

Joshua's face now became grief-stricken.

"B-but why? Why!?" he asked desperately, his blue eyes brimming with tears.

"You should know that better than anyone..." he said gravely.

Then Joshua smiled weakly and said,

"It was because of me... wasn't it?...Because of me..."

Suddenly Joshua fell on his knees and angrily punched the ground. Leaving a surprisingly nasty crack on the pavement.

"AAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!" he screamed, as teardrops fell from his sapphire orbs and flowed into the cracks that he made.

Ewan watched silently as Joshua vented his rage on the hard pavement. The retired priest had wished that he would find out for himself on what had happened to Rosette. But this isn't exactly what he had in mind. Still, after seeing that Joshua's hand was already bleeding, he made a quick grab for the boy's wrist.

"I think that's enough. I feel your loss Joshua but you should know that four years have already passed since they died. It wouldn't be good to mourn for them while everyone has long moved on." he said firmly but kindly.

Slowly, Ewan lifted Joshua onto his feet. He then gently released the boy's wrist. Joshua was quiet for a while, but suddenly Ewan saw a spark in the boy's eyes. Joshua then looked at him with a face full of determination and said,

"Take me to Sister Kate."

xxx

Joshua marched at top speed through the corridors of the convent. On the way he heard snatches of conversation from the other Order members.

"...Is it true what happened?"

"Yeah, I saw it wings and everything."

"What about her, was she all right!?"

"Don't worry, she passed out for a while but she's fine now."

Joshua didn't know what they were talking about but he didn't care either. All he cared was the he needs to join the Order, join the Militia...right now.

When he fiercely burst into Sister Kate's office, the hapless old nun was so startled that she threw up the reports that she was reading.

"Joshua Christopher!? What is the meaning of this!?" she shrieked. Picking up the scattered papers.

"Make me an exorcist. NOW!!" he demanded.

"What!? After you just barge into my office you expect me to-wait a minute. What?" she said surprised, her anger evaporating into incredulity.

"I wanna join the Order", he repeated.

Joshua then instantly started to explain what happened, with a little help from Ewan. After she heard everything, Sister Kate calmed down and said quietly,

"Very well, however, before I let you join you must know that Aion is dead as well. So I don't think revenge would be a proper motivation for joining."

"I know." Joshua replied "Aion may have been the one who caused Rosette and Chrono to give up so much for me. But I was the one who let him take me away. I wanted power so I could become stronger. It's my fault...that's why I wanna join. It's the only way I could forgive myself."

Sister Kate closed her eyes thoughtfully. When she opened them again she replied in a businesslike tone,

"All right. You'll need a partner to watch your back since your still new. And not just any partner... According to what you said, there is no doubt your Apostle powers have also been restored. So the only person suitable, is another Apostle.

"Wait, what do you mean 'also'?" Joshua asked suspiciously.

Just then the door opened. Joshua's heart suddenly skipped a beat when he realized who it was. The smooth silky white hair, the beautiful pink eyes, and the kind angelic voice that belonged to one who constantly haunted his dreams, both day and night. It felt like it was only yesterday when he left her promising to come back. Azmaria still looked a bit like a little girl back then. But now...

"Sister Kate I-" she was about to say when she stopped in her tracks upon seeing Joshua.

"H-hey Az... I'm back. I promised right?" Joshua said meekly.

"Joshua..." she whispered. Then suddenly as if like lightning she rushed in and hugged his waist tightly.

"Joshua!" she cried happily.

"H-hey, take it easy," he said nervously trying in vain not to blush, "it's been a long trip."

Sister Kate made a dissapproving cough to get their attention. The two seperated rather awkwardly. Joshua's face was still slightly red. He didn't seem to notice that Azmaria's face had a shade of pink too.

"Azmaria, I was just about to tell you that Joshua has officially joined the Order. And since today is his first day, I'm assigning him to be your assistant as well as ummm... partner."

Sister Kate said 'partner' rather uncomfortably, staring at the two carefully. As if she suddenly wondered if she made the right choice. Azmaria, however, didn't seem to notice. She turned to Joshua beamingly and said,

"Wow Joshua! This is great!"

"Y-yeah..." he said nervously. _Whoa, wait Azmaria's my partner!? _he thought frantically.

"Very well...Dismissed." Sister Kate said reluctantly.

"Cmon..." Azmaria said cheerfully.

"Um...yeah." he said casting a what-the-hell-do-I-do? look at Ewan in which he merely shrugged and smiled innocently.

As the two teens left the room. Sister Kate let out a huge sigh.

"Why do I feel like I'm gonna regret this?"

"I know. When he heard about Rosette he became so desperate to redeem himself, I fear he might do something crazy or push himself too hard."

"Hmm...yes. But oddly enough, that's not what worries me." Sister Kate said rather tiredly. Placing a hand over her face.

"Huh? Really? Then what does?"

"Well, it's just that...Azmaria's been talking a lot about Joshua ever since he left. And when I saw the look on that boy's face when he saw her come through that door! I thought I'd never see the end of it."

At first Remington didn't quite get what she was talking about. However, after realizing about what she meant by the 'look on the boy's face' he couldn't help but laugh.

"He was that obvious huh?" he said jokingly.

"Remington! This a serious matter! Sister Azmaria is a nun-in-training. If she is to become one, she must learn how to practice her vows!" she said reproachfully.

"Well... I suppose so. But still, it wouldn't hurt if Azmaria had a bit more romance in her life." Ewan answered thoughtfully.

"Remington, this is a church convent, not a high-school!" Sister Kate said shrilly.

Joshua looked nervously at Azmaria as they strolled the grounds. He found it hard stop staring at her too much, and he could blame him? They haven't seen each other for two years, yet he's surprised to see how much Azmaria has grown. Though she was still shorter than he was, it was only because he had grown just as much as she had only difference that he never felt it as much as now. Her face was still pure and innocent like a child's, however her body was no longer that of a little girl but that of a blossoming young woman.

Joshua's eyes wandered from the top of her head, then down to her smooth face, then even lower... to her (Joshua gulped uneasily at this point) her chest. It was then did he realize it, Azmaria just didn't 'grow' she had become more and more...

"...beautiful." he whispered.

"Huh?" Azmaria said facing him.

"A-ah! N-nothing!" he stammered _Damn,_ he scolded himself ,_couldn't keep your mouth shut could you Joshua?!_

Azmaria looked at Joshua, at the young man that he had become. As far as she knew, her deep feelings for him hadn't changed the slightest bit. As she looked at how tall he was compared to her, she couldn't help but blush. He was like a prince to her, even before.

Azmaria remembered that the first time they met four years ago. Remington was asked to bring Joshua to the Order for a meeting on what to do now that the boy is the only surviving member of his family left.

Joshua had gotten lost when he heard someone singing. He followed the voice and found it's owner under a tree surrounded by little children. He was surprised because he thought it was an angel that was singing. Whether he was joking or not, the memory still manages to make her heart beat. They've been best friends ever since...but deep down Joshua was so much more to her than that.

"So..." she asked quietly "...were you there?"

"Huh? Where?" he asked, slightly dumbfounded.

"You know..." she continued, her blush deepening, "when I sang."

"Oh...yeah...you were great." he said silently, slowly facing away from her.

"Yeah, everyone felt so happy and wonderful when they heard me. They say all the sick people around the convent got better... and you know what else?" she added quietly.

"What?"

"I felt happy too... happier than I had ever been. Ever since the Crash everything's just been miserable here and it got worse when you had to leave. At least... for me.

"Az..." Joshua said, _She missed me...she really did miss me!_ he thought excitedly but looked at her worriedly.

"But things are better now! You're back, everyones happy, it's just like old times! Heehee!" she giggled.

"Yeah, everyone's happy..." Joshua said sadly.

"Joshua? Joshua what's wrong?" asked Azmaria, surprised on why her best friend was so down.

Joshua sat quietly on nearby fountain and said,

"When I heard your voice, I didn't just feel happy I felt something else. It was like a bright light in within me started glow after being out for years. Looks like your not the only Apostle here Az."

"What? Joshua that's great!" she said brightly, but noticed that Joshua was still gloomy.

"However," he continued, " my powers weren't the only thing that came back."

It was then did Azmaria realize what he was talking about.

"Oh... Joshua, I-"

"I hurt my friends... I killed hundreds of people." he said shakily looking at his hands and clenched them. And my sister, my own sister, is now dead because of me! It's all my fault!"

"Joshua, you sholdn't blame yourself." Azmaria said gently as she bent down in front of him.

"I joined the order because it's the only way I could ask for their forgiveness." he finished bitterly.

Azmaria watched him sadly, she understood how he felt because she lost lots of people close to her because of her powers. Her parents, the orchestra in which she sang in... all of them gone because of her.

Suddenly, Joshua felt something warm gently touching his fists. When he looked up he saw Azmaria holding up his hand and nursing the wounds that he got from mashing the pavement earlier.

"Azmaria..." Joshua said, and hung his head shamefully as the girl took out a hankerchief from her pocket and used it o bandage his hand.

"Joshua," she said in that kind and gentle tone of hers, "why would you ask for something that you already have?"

"Huh?"

"Rosette and Chrono both loved you very much to the point that they gave everything to bring you back, including their very lives. So something like forgiveness shouldn't be hard for them to give.

"Besides", she added as she tenderly tied the knot on Joshua's bandage, "they wouldn't have liked it if you had lost your memory. They'd have wanted you to be well and happy."

"How'd you know what my sister would have liked for me?" replied Joshua rather cynically.

Azmaria merely stood up, smiled kindly to him.

"Because Rosette was like a big-sister to me too..." she said as she turned away and looked up at the sky.

"When she and Chrono rescued me from the demons, they didn't do it because I was an Apostle." she continued, " They did it because I was their friend and they cared for me. Rosette was always taking care of me when I was feeling lonely, she also kept telling me on how much she cared about you too Joshua."

"Az..." Joshua said. He stood up. _She's right _he thought, _Rosette and Chrono gave up their lives to save mine. So I shouldn't be wasting their sacrifice by moping around and pushing myself like this._

With that, he finally smiled. He walked right behind Az and said, "Thanks.." as he kissed her in th cheek.

Azmaria was so surprised by his kiss that she instantly blushed scarlet. Even though it was just on the cheek, her heart wouldn't stop racing.

When she looked at Joshua's face, she was surprised to see him blushing too. But he was smiling at her. Azmaria always liked it when he smiled at her like that. It only made her happier still. And today, she couldn't ask for anything else.

Slowly, she put her arms around one of his and smiled back. Together, they walked back towards the convent. Azmaria made a silent thanksgiving prayer to God for hearing her. The two of them could've just stayed that happy like that forever...

However, their happiness was shortlived.

xxx

The night sky was filled with black smoke as people were running and shouting too and fro. A horrible inhuman howl could be heard as numerous exorcists opened fire upon the endless swarm of Legions. It appears that the Apostles' powers weren't the only thing that reawakened.The sound of gatling guns and pistols rattled the night air as the exorcists desperately try to take out as many of the endless horde as they could before they overrun the convent.

Sister Kate looked upon the inevitable destruction, the fire and the smoke mirrored in her spectacles. She and Remington had a feeling that this would happen. That's

why she ordered him not to come to the convent that day, for reasons only she and Elder knew. They've suffered countless casualties and their supplies were dwindling at a rapid pace. Just then, Sister Anna burst into the room.

"Sister Kate, they've already overrun our third line of defense. There's no stopping them!" she said exasperately.

Sister Kate looked at the many people fighting down on the grounds. Despite the seemingly hopelessness of the situation of the whole thing, everyone was fighting with renewed vigor. All thanks to the miracle that happened earlier that day. In fact she herself woudn't want to go down without at least taking half of that accursed horde with her! But she had to do something first...

"Sister Anna, find our two Apostles and take them to the Elder.

"Roger!!"

Time for the last resort. _I'm sorry you two... Azmaria, Joshua... but you two must live! There is still so much for you to do!_ she thought silently.

Azmaria and Joshua found Sister Kate and Elder standing outside a small door that had no sign but was securely locked. When Azmaria looked to Sister Kate for an answer all the old nun said was , "Follow me."

As Elder unbolted the many locks on the door and inside was a one-way elevator. As they climbed inside Elder pushed a button and they instantly plunged down, far, far underground.

As the elevator closed to a complete stop, the two of them were shocked at what they saw: two steel tanks the twice the size of humans, were standing side by side. A porthole on the front showed that the tanks were filled with a strange eerie teal liquid that a cast a pale glow on their faces.

Joshua quickly turned to Elder and asked,

"W-what are those?"

"Chrono Chambers!" the old man explained grinning proudly, "Special containment tanks that can preserve their contents by using a special mixture of Astral energy and the power of Chrono's last remains: his horns."

"Chrono's horns!?" gasped Azmaria.

"Yes", Elder replied "Those horns are main core of these two tanks. Not only do they help them work they amplify the strenght and durability of these babies to the point that not even Pandemonium can scratch 'em."

"So we're gonna trap the demons in these things?" Joshua asked confusedly, "How? It doesn't make sense."

"Of course it doesn't! Because it's not for the demons...it's for you." Sister Kate anwered gravely.

"What!?" shrieked Azmaria.

"I'm sorry, Azmaria but the Chambers here were built to save _you_. A last resort in case someting like this ever happens." she said apologetically.

"Your crazy! There's no way we're gonna abandon you!" Joshua furiously, "I've already lost most of the people I care about because of me. I'm not about to lose a hundred more!"

"He's right Sister Kate please!" pleaded Azmaria, tears glistening.

Sister was about to answer, when a nearby phone rang. She rushed over and picked it up. "Sister Mary what's the current situation."

"...Ugh! They've already breached...convent overrun...everyone's-AGH!...BEEEEEEEP."

Slowly and heavily, she placed the phone back in its place. Then without facing those two, Sister Kate said to them.

"Joshua...Azmaria. Don't think your abandoning us. You've done so much for us, this is the least we can offer you. We wouldn't have gone through all this trouble just to save you if we felt that you were abandoning us."

"B-but why us!? Azmaria cried, tears already running down her face.

"You must live! Your powers were returned to you for a reason. Now go!!!" she said taking out what suspiciously looked like a gun. "Me and Elder will hold them off."

"B-but..."

"GO!!!" she shouted, as a large explosion sounded from above.

"Grr..C'mon Az. We don't have a choice..." Joshua said bitterly as he gently led Azmaria by the arm. _I can't believe I'm gonna have more people sacrificed for me. _he thought furiously.

"Just stand on that red circle and the machine will do the rest." Elder instructed, taking his position behind a control panel.

Azmaria, was suddenly had the wind knocked out of her as a glass tube shot out and encased her. Same thing happened with Joshua. The tubes then lowered themselves into the centers of their respective tanks. Azmaria felt the warm liquid suddenly surge in from slots on the sides and was surprised at the way it seemed to eat away her clothes until there was nothing left but her naked frame deep inside. However, before she could even think further, her eyelids were starting to feel unusually heavy. She took one last fleeting look outside, tears in her eyes at the loss of so many friends. But was greeted by a greater shock.

All of her friends were looking at her with happy faces. Joshua was next to her. He too seemed to be seeing the same thing, thought they were in different tanks. Then Sister Kate spoke gently to the two of them, "Remember children, we will always be with you. Just as God is always with you."

_Everyone_

After that, Azmaria Hendric and Joshua Christopher, the last two apostles, fell into their long, long sleep.

Frozen in time...


	2. Ch1: Detention

**A/N**: Heeeere's Chapter 1! Just so you know, you might notice that my OCs are inspired from other things (anime, movies, stories).

Also... **SOOOOOOOOOOOORRRRRRYYYYYY** **FOR NOT UPDATING!!!!** (ToT)

My annoying little sister got impatient and stole this fic's original manuscript! And because of that, I wound up losing it! So instead I wrote another fic and told her to find it (or _else_...) Thankfully she did and now I'm back! (took her forever to find it though)

Can't really assure you guys yet on how I often I update but I'm gonna promise that I will complete this!

Disclaimer: I don't own Chrono Crusade blah blah blah... nor do I own the stuff I base my characters on yada yada yada... Do I really have to write this down? (ToT)

**Chapter 1: Detention**

1989 A.D.

A terrible event occured in Pandemonium. The Seven Deadly Sins, seven demonic creatures of terrible power, have escaped from their netherworldly prisons and wreaked havoc upon the world, plunging it even deeper in darkness. In response, the Archangels of Heaven took it upon themselves to seal away the creatures on Earth...but at a heavy price. For each demon they had to seal, they were forced to use a human child to contain it. Burdened by the task of holding these demons within them, these unfortunate children have been dubbed: Martyrs.

2006 A.D.

Though the Seven Sins were sealed away, the world was still immersed in great evil. While some of its inhabitants live in tranquility, the rest wallow in great sin. Crime and Corruption are everywhere. The Catholic Church is now under attack, not from demons, but from humans. Heretics who claim that universe is theirs and that God is merely a ruse to impede man's progress. The youth, who were thought as the future and hope of the world, are now wasting themselves away on vice and worldly pleasures.

However, all is not lost. For somewhere near the abandoned ruins of the Magdalene Convent, a group of teenagers make their way to the tumbledown church...

What they don't know, is that they are soon to discover something that will put a new chapter in their lives... and change them forever.

"Man this is busted, why do I get detention? I didn't do anything!" complained a tall good-looking young man with long, slightly spiky, jet black hair as he and his friends walked to the old church's ruins. His dark blue eyes gazing lazily into the distance.

"Yeah, uh, that's the thing Rik, you didn't do anything...including your homework." answered a pink-haired girl coolly. She had emerald green eyes and on her long pink hair was a hairband that had cute tiny cat ears on top.

"Hey, at least that's better than dissin' Principal Hardy behind her back." replied a fat dark-skinned boy holding a bag of corn chips. He was wearing a reverted baseball cap on his head and a flashy orange basketball shirt over a plain white t-shirt.

"Oh, c'mon! Did you even, like, _hear_ what she said to me? "'Young lady, do wear any skirt that's longer than your thighs?'" said the pink-haired girl as she mimicked an old woman's voice.

"Well, do you?" said a teal-eyed girl with purple hair that barely touched her smooth shoulders. "Honestly Kitty, you've really outdone yourself this time."

Kitty looked at her friend slyly,

"Reeeeally?" she said," Weeell, at least _I_ remembered to wear my bra to school."

"Ooooooh! Yeouch! Hahahaha!!!" laughed the fat boy heartily.

"Well at least _that's _better than nicking food from the cafeteria... during Gym Class. Am I right? Jo?" the purple-haired said as she looked at the fat boy mischieviously.

"Hahahah," laughed Kitty, "good one Violet."

But Jo merely shrugged smoothly,

"Hey Vi, you know Coach Herman's wack. He's got us high-school kids playin' dodgeball. Dodgeball girl!" he said, grabbing another handful of corn chips. "Besides, recent research shows that's its actually a pretty traumatizing sport. Ain't that right Chris?" he added turning around.

But when he saw nobody there he called again,

"Chris?"

Everyone stopped and looked back, wondering where there last friend was. Then, Kitty spotted him.

"Oh there he is. Ugh, does he do _anything_ that doesn't have him facing a screen!?" she said irritably, putting her hands on her hips.

A boy with short navy blue hair approached them. His sky-blue eyes, behind black oval shaped glasses, were glued to the screen of a sleek, jet-black PSP. When he reached his four friends he instantly stopped, but he still didn't stop playing.

Only when his PSP gave loud BOOM did he finally look up.

"Yeah?" he said rather dully.

"Oh! Back to reality already? What did ya blow up?" Kitty said in a tone of mock surprise as she clasped her hands together innocently.

"I wish it was you..." Chris replied grumpily as he walked past her.

"Oooooh! I'm, like, soooo scared!" Kitty reacted mockingly.

As the five friends resumed their trek, Violet turned to Chris and asked, "Um, Chris? Come to think of it, why are you in detention? Your a straight-A student. Not like you to get in trouble."

"I created a radio control chip that I installed within the wiring of the head jock's sports car and activated it using a program that I designed on my laptop.Which I then used to manipulate the vehicle's movements." Chris replied automatically.

"Okaaay... what's that in human?" Kitty asked, completely bewildered.

"He turned David Landon's new ride into his own remote-controlled toy car." Jo translated, emptying the last few crumbs of his snack into his hand.

"Ohhh..." Kitty said, mildly impressed, "so _that's_ how it got totaled!"

Suddenly they heard voices in the distance.

"Sounds like were almost there, let's get this over with... I wanna go home." Rik said wearily scratching the back of his head.

As they approached the source of voices they were a bit shocked at what they saw.

It was said that the convent ruins were especially terryfying at night, but now those same ruins are being bathed by the light coming from installed search lights. Groups of people were going here and there studying the ruins. Some were sketching what was left of what looked like a nuns' dorm. Others were examining inside the main church building, trying to analyze the bits and pieces of what supposed to have been a large crucifix. Trucks and vans, probabably stocked with all sorts of equipment, were parked all over.

After a stunned silence...

"Um... Vi? Who was in charge of detention again?" Kitty asked rather weakly, looking at bustling activity below.

"That would be me Miss Hart." answered a gentle, mysterious voice next to them.

The group quickly turned their heads left and immediately saw a blonde-haired man with dark blue eyes. On his head was a pair of rather goofy square glasses.

"Or did you forget why the five of you aren't stuck in my classroom, drooling your faces off?" he continued, crossing his arms and smiling.

"Haha, funny Mr. E, very funny!" Kitty answered sarcastically.

Mr. E merely kept on smiling and said,

"Well, what are you kids waiting for? C'mon!"

As they walked through the place and looked at all the busy people running around, Violet turned to Mr. E and asked curiously, "Ermmm... Mr. E? What exactly is all this?"

"Can't ya tell? It's an excavation."

"What?" Kitty exclaimed incredulously.

"Well, I am a History teacher now, aren't I?" he said casually.

"Heck, you ain't just _a_ History teacher Mr. E, your _our _History teacher!" shouted Jo joviantly.

"Yeah! Your, like, the youngest, coolest teacher on campus!" Kitty agreed. "Not to mention the cutest!" she continued looking at him teasingly.

"In fact, even Kitty's got a crush on you." Violet said slyly.

"Ugh, do not!" Kitty retorted, "Anyway what the he-"

"Whoa! Watch it young lady!" interjected Mr. E waving a finger warningly at her, "Your still near a church. A dead one, but all the more reason."

"Fine! Whatever! Geez!" she said irritably. "What exactly is this place? All I heard was it was just some creepy old church but that's all I know." she asked.

As the group approached an overhanging tent, Mr. E answered them as they went inside.

"You, my young friends, are standing upon the grounds of one of the Catholic Church's most mysterious Orders." He paused facing his students from behind a table that was laden with maps, charts, and other documents.

"The Order...of Magdalene." he finished.

At this Jo made a cough that sounded more like a chuckle being stifled.

"Something wrong Jo?" asked Mr. E raising an eyebrow.

"You kiddin' right?" he said, trying to contain his laughter as he looked disbelievingly at the decrepit ruins outside.

"No," Mr. E said seriously, "you guys..are standing on the grounds... of the Magdalene Order-New York Branch!" Chris looked skeptically outside, towards the broken walls and crumbling pillars, he then looked back at Mr. E.

"Or at least... what's left of it." the teacher admitted rather awkwardly.

"Hmmm..." Chris wondered suspiciously. He then asked quickly, "Where's your LAN?", as he rushed past Mr. E so so suddenly that the he flinched.

"Oh, a-ah, o-over here." he stammered. _Boy, this kid can really get the jump on you sometimes_ he thought nervously.

Then Chris flipped off his backpack and opened it. Before they knew it, Chris had taken out a smooth, flat platinum laptop and turned it on. As the device beeped into life, Chris started to type furiously until he found what he was looking for.

"Got a hit." he mumbled incoherently.

All of his friends automatically around him. Mr. E looked curiously over the back of the laptop's screen."So, um, h-how-how'd you know I had internet way over here?" he asked, impressed that his computer student had noticed.

Chris was about to open his mouth for another jargon of tech-talk, when Rik answered lazily,

"He saw one of your assistants surfing for porn..."

There was an awkward silence.

"Ah, g-guess that must be those college kids that I hired. I, uh, better go..." he said embarrassingly as he quickly rushed out of the tent. Kitty, Jo, Violet, laughing hard as he left.

After everyone had calmed down a bit. They all bent over to see what Chris had found:

_**The Order of Magdalene**_

_'The Order of Magdalene was a Roman Catholic Order that was established around the time of WWI. It was extremely active during the Roaring Twenties but was gradually disbanded around WWII, following to the destruction of it's New York branch somewhere during 1933.-_

"That's where we are right now." Chris muttered

_Though the Mayor's office released a press statement saying that the cause of the branch's destruction was accidental, it didn't seem enough to prove how an entire religious compound burned down in a single night-_

"_'burned down_'?" Kitty said disbelievingly as she looked outside."Blown up, more like it!"

"Wait, there's more..." Violent continued.

_Despite public records state that the Magdalene Order was nothing more than a charity organization of the Catholic Church, it has been the subject of many strange rumors and urban legends. Two of the most famous of these legends are the Legend of the Saint and the Sinner and the Legend of the Last Apostles._

_Many attempts have been made to prove the truth behind these legends, but none have succeeded in actually excavating the site and find actual evidence. The reason for this was because the Mayor has declared the convent, and the area around it, a restricted area._

Rik read and reread the article several times, with an sudden extreme seriousness in his eyes.

"Wait a sec, '_restricted area'_? As in 'No Trespassing' and 'Keep Out'? he said seriously.

"'_The Last Apostles_'? Who are they?" Chris thought musingly.

"Surprised you didn't know that Chris. An informer of your caliber." said a dissappointed voice with a roguish accent.

"Aaah, go easy on 'im Jimmy. Not like this prairie dog's ever been outta his hole and actually _talked _to real people." answered another voice. This one had a cowboy accent.

They looked up and saw two boys, both of them in rough clothes. Their jeans were torned. Shirts had crazy designs. Basically, the attire of your average, everday truant. One had golden orange hair, while the other had short brown hair. They were looking at the five amusingly.

"Hey, Baron! Jimmy! Wazzup?" Jo greeted them. Kitty, however, was far less than pleased.

"What are you two jerks doing here?" she said coldly.

"Aww don't be mad little Kitty. Not like it's my fault your doin' hard time." said Baron, the one with the orange hair.

"Yeah!" She said in rather irritably "Same thing it's not your fault ya can ditch school and get away with it!"

"Well, does your family give you bigger and possibly more worthy obligations and responsibilies other than school?" James, Baron's partner, asked, speaking very fast.

Kitty opened and closed her mouth furiously, she then said somewhat bitterly.

"I-I, well, no..."

James smiled triumphantly and said arrogantly,

"See? Stick to fending your terv." He then added mysteriously "Leave the rest of the world to us."

"Okay, first thing." Kitty answered back sharply, "It's 'turf' not 'terv'. And second, it's not my fault my mom's such a-"

"James." interjected Chris grumpily, he was getting sick of this. "What do you know about all this?"

"Oh, nice to see you too." James replied sarcastically.

"Ok, easy fellas." Baron said raising his hands up. "it ain't high noon so don't start a showdown. Know about what Chris?"

"I've heard one and only one urban legend about this place... The Legend of the Saint and the Sinner. What's this about the 'Last Apostles'?

"All right...James?" Baron said, looking at his pirate companion.

"Very well," James said defeatedly and then explained, "aside from the it being haunted you might've heard that this place was rumored to be an exorcists' training ground. Savvy?"

All five friends nodded at this.

"Well, from what I've recently gathered, ridding the devil and his crew was just one their fine goals." he continued.

"So you're saying... they were after something else?" Rik asked.

"I wouldn't say 'after'. It's more like 'guarding'." Baron answered mysteriously.

"Guarding? Guarding what?" Violet asked puzzledly.

James opened his mouth but it was another voice who answered,

"They called them Apostles." answered Mr. E's voice, announcing his return. He looked somewhat flustered and slightly harrassed but all the same, there was a definite tone of seriousness in his voice.

"And they are...?" Chris asked inquisitively.

"These are young individuals imbued with a portion of God's power." Mr. E answered. "Each Apostle is said to have the capability to perform countless miracles. However,their powers come at a heavy price. They suffer great misfortune in their lives are incapable of using their powers for themselves. It's called Ingaritsu or the Law of Cause and Effect."

"Ooooh bummer." Kitty commented.

"The Legend of the Last Apostles," Mr. E continued, "tells that two of the Apostles ever found by the Order were sheltered and safeguarded within the walls of this very compound. However, it wasn't long before the demons decided to take action.

"Oho, I get it." Said Jo clapping his hands. "Ya sayin Satan and his homies trashed this place."

"Hmm... yeah," Mr. E said gloomily, "I guess you can say that."

"Makes sense though don't it?" said James as he fiddled with a compass on the table.

"However," Mr E. added, "the legend also tells that in a last attempt to protect these servants of God, the Order placed the two in mysterious tanks that act like some sort of time capsule for humans that would preserve them for long periods of time. Tanks that are, even to this day, hidden beneath these ruins... at least so far as the legend goes."

There was a short silence as each of the seven teens pondered at what Mr. E said. Then Kitty straightened up, smiled uncomfortably, and said,

"Okay lemme get this straight. You and your archeology people are trespassing on government property to search for a pair mystical time capsule thingies and whoever's inside?"

"Yes." Mr. E replied as if they were in class.

"Ok, one question."

"What?"

"Are you outta your mind?"

Everyone except Rik looked disbelievingly at Kitty but Mr. E just laughed and said.

"Don't worry Kitty. First of all, I'm not trespassing. I have special permission from the mayor's office. I've got friends in high places, believe me. Although I wouldn't say it was a walk in the park getting all those permits. It's one of the reasons I had James here."

At this James looked at his nails on his chest as if his task was nothing.

Kitty, pretending that James was nothing more than a plastic plant, continued to ask,

"But you don't seriously believe in these holy, holy, angel people do you? They sound a lot like those all goody-goody saints." She said rather cynically. "Nobody's a saint. At least… not anymore..."

It seemed that Kitty wasn't the only one who thought like this. Each of the other teens knew exactly what she meant. They knew how things were going with the world. How everything was all but deceit and lies. How evil has now invaded everything in the hearts of humanity. However Mr. E smiled gently and said.

"Well ever since you kids saved me from Hobo Ville I figured I had more reason to believe than before…"

At this Kitty's face softened.

Then to everyone's surprised, Rik raised his hand.

"Yes Rik?" Mr. E responded.

"Why do you wanna find these capsule things in the first place?" he asked, though he was currently facing outside. "And more importantly, why do you wanna know what's inside?"

Mr. E closed his eyes and thought seriously, though he couldn't help but smile a bit. _Rik may be a lazy slacker but of the seven of them he's the hardest to fool. It's no wonder the others treat him like a leader, despite how lazy he is. However, I can't tell them why…at least not yet._

Mr. E was about to answer when a shouting voices were heard outside. Then a pale faced young woman rushed into the tent and said urgently.

"Mr. Remington," she said gasping, "you better come see this!"

Mr. E looked at his students and nodded. They quickly followed after him from out of the tent and to where the entire ruckus was all about. They followed the young lady assistant to a huge, tall pile of debris at the very edge of the grounds. Of all the areas, the buildings in this part looked the most devastated as they were nearly reduced to the heights of small fences. It was as if something huge and fiery came down from the sky and obliterated everything.

But it didn't seem to be the reason why almost all of the people here were huddled around it. They were looking at a team of workers busily shifting the broken blocks and tiles off the center of the pile.

Mr. E bolted straight to the top of the messed up hill and approached what could only be the leader of the team. He was a big, bulky, hairy man wearing a checkered orange shirt and a green jacket; he was wearing a safety construction helmet much like the rest of his team. Upon seeing the blonde-haired History teacher he beckoned him over.

"I'm no archeologist but could this be what you lookin' for?" he said indicating something on the ground.

Rik and the others couldn't see what the Mr. E was looking at but the expression on his face when he came back down told them everything.

"Sally!" Mr. E called the young woman from earlier. "Tell the others to get the lift ready."

He then turned to Baron and Chris and said,

"You two go with her and help 'em out ok?"

"You got it sheriff." said Baron while Chris merely nodded and followed suit.

"Umm, Mr. E," Kitty asked, completely perplexed, "what's going on?"

Mr. E just smiled mysteriously and said "What else? Time to do our detention."

The five remaining friends, Kitty, Violet, Jo, Rik & James, all followed Mr. E up the rocky pile (with Jo making the occasional stumble.)

"Jo could you be any more of a fatass!?" Kitty said angrily after he nearly slipped for the seventh time.

"Hey," Jo huffed tiredly, "that's inappropriate language for this location show some respect. You don't want some dead nun suddenly floatin' around your crib cuz you said somethin' un-Christian like do ya?"

Rik looked at the both of them and sighed. He then approached the thing that Mr. E got so excited over earlier.

What he saw shocked him.

In the very middle of the pile was a hole. It wasn't very wide (probably just enough for a small vehicle) but looking down.. Rik couldn't see anything. Anything.. except darkness…

"Oh my-What is this!?" he heard Violet whisper. She looked as shocked as he was.

"This thing makes Davy Jones locker look like a shallow reef." muttered James as he peered into the sinking black abyss.

"Oy! Kit, Jo! You gotta come see this!" Violet called.

Kitty walked over to them looking slightly disgruntled but it was soon replaced with a look of surprise as she saw the deep hole.

Joey kneeled down next to Rik, his face serious.

"It's gotta be over, what? Five-hundred maybe even a thousand feet?"

Rik looked around and, conveniently enough, found an open case of glowsticks nearby. He went over, took one, bent it to light and approached the hole carefully before dropping it inside. Everyone looked anxiously at the falling glowstick. It's eerie green light dimming rapidly as it fell deeper and deeper into the hole until finally, they couldn't see it anymore.

The five friends were completely silent for a while, then Rik turned to James and asked, "Where do you think this goes?"

James thought for a while and then answered, Hmm… judging from our dear teacher's tale, it could be the very thing the man's been looking for."

Rik looked glumly at the deep hole as if lost in thought but after that he just complained gloomily again, "Man… to think I could've just snoozed in Mr. E's cozy classroom for detention but nooo, I've got to have a whole lotta work to do again ugh.. geez this blows.."

"Oh get a grip Rik! What you do all the time isn't exactly what normal people would call 'work'." Kitty scolded.

"Whatever lady." replied Rik grumpily.

Suddenly, they heard the huge booming sound of a truck horn from behind them. The five quickly turned around to see a fairly large truck backing it's way towards them. The truck had a small crane attached to it's hold and suspended on the crane's hook was rather peculiar object.

It was a flat wide metallic disk, with a ring of seven light blue orbs attached at the bottom along with a slightly bigger orb at the center. As the five stared rather apprehensively at the strange object, it was lowered right above the mouth of the hole. On top of the thing was Mr. E along with Chris and Baron.

"Well whaddya guys think?" asked Mr. E expectantly, pocketing his hands.

"Just what is that!? Looks like a cross between a flying saucer and a manhole cover!" Kitty said disbelievingly. "Did Chris build it?" she added mockingly.

"Keep talking and I'll throw in a giant laser." Chris hissed icily.

Kitty threw him an annoyed look. "You know, even for a geek, you come up with pretty messed up jokes."

"Oh, you thought I was joking?" Chris replied sarcastically. Kitty was about to retort when Mr E. said, "Hey, you two can bite heads later. Now hop on!"

Kitty eyes widened with surprise, "Seriously?"

"Sweet!" said Joey excitedly as the five of them stepped on the floating platform.

"Hey Joey you better stay behind mate, we don't know how much of your obesity this thing can hold." James said teasingly.

"Relax class," Mr. E said, "this lift's one of the latest in anti-gravity technology. Chris and Baron had a hand in it. So you don't have to worry about falling."

"Oh yeah, knowing that I feel reeaallly safe now, hm-hmm." said Kitty sarcastically glancing over at Chris. In which the boy returned with a livid stare.

When everyone was already on, Mr. E said finally, "Ok… here we go guys! Chris if you will."

Chris took a small, shiny silver remote, "Initiating Gravity Elevator, descend at 15 kilometers per second." he commanded as he quickly pressed some of the remote's buttons.

"Wait, '15 kilometers per _second_'?" Violet asked uneasily. "Isn't that a little too- FAAAAAAST!!!" she screamed as the elevator shot down the deep hole like a bullet; the wind immediately whistling wildly as they descended at breakneck speed.

"Yee-haw!!!" shouted Baron excitedly as they went deeper and deeper into the hole, not even knowing how far the have already gone down

"Chris how do you stop this thing!?" shrieked Kitty.

"You don't…" Chris answered creepily with a maniacal gleam in his eyes.

"What!? We're all gonna die!!? Help me!!!" she screeched. "Rik, hold me! I'm too young to die!" she cried as he put her arms tightly around Rik.

"Hey! Girl, get a grip!" Rik said angrily as he tried to pry the girl's arms from his waist. Kitty's grip seemed to too tight for comfort. Then just as the elevator seemed to have reached maximum speed, it began to slow down rapidly before coming at a complete (and ironically gentle) stop.

"Whoa, man!" cried Joey happily. "That was da bomb! Hey Chris, think you can pimp my ride with that sorta thang?"

Violet slumped off dizzily before clumsily sitting down. "Ugh… look what it did to my hair." she sighed miserably, feeling the ruffled crumpled mess on her head.

As everyone else got off, Rik looked down at Kitty. She still hadn't let got of his waist. "Uh Kitty?" he wheezed, Kitty's tight hold hadn't relaxed either. "Mind letting me go before you crush my ribs?"

Unexpectedly, Kitty looked up straight into the young man's face. She was even more surprised to find it so close to her own and that their noses were touching. Rik too, was equally was a little take aback to have Kitty's face so close to his. What's more he was becoming aware of something soft and bouncy squeezing against his waist; something that was slowly starting to make his face heat up.

Unfortunately, he wasn't the only one who noticed…

"WAAAAHHHH!!!!"

SLAP!!!

Rik looked grumpily at Kitty as he massaged a nasty red mark on his cheek; the group now moving forward, away from the elevator. They found themselves in a really dark place that they couldn't see two steps away from the elevator. However, they could at least tell that they were in a chamber of some sort as bits of metal and broken pieces machinery littered the floor around them.

"Ok, let's split up for a sec." declared Mr. E as he turned on a flashlight he was holding. "I'll go this way, you kids can go anywhere but just don't wander off too far. You might hit your head or something." Everyone nodded before Mr. E walked a little ways to the left before disappearing into the dark. For awhile, everyone was just walking a bit aimlessly in the dark, keeping close to each other as possible.

However, when none of them could still make out anything in this deep dark place, Baron said irritably, "Won't somebody light a match? This place is darker than a haunted gold mine on a new moon!"

For a few seconds, everyone was shuffling around trying to get anything that could shed even the smallest bit of light.

"Why didn't you say so?" spoke James' voice. "All right you lot gather around." he then said. Suddenly, there was an intense clicking sound after which an extremely bright light literally burst forth from something in James' hand. "Little gizmo that my dad got me, lights up the area all around you. Neat eh?" he said arrogantly.

"WHOA!!!" Jo cried.

"What? Surprised Chris isn't the only one packed with nifty gizmos?" the young truant replied peevishly staring at Chris.

"Not that fool! That!" Jo said as he pointed at something behind James. In fact, he wasn't the only one who was staring at something behind the young man. James turned around, lifting the bright white light but nearly dropped it when he saw what stood before him.

Standing right in front of them were two very large tanks. Though they were covered by the dust of ages, there was not a single scratch on them. They were completely undamaged. Kitty slowly approached one of the tanks carefully and placed her ear (her real one) to it.

After a while, nobody did anything as the pink haired girl closed her eyes and listened carefully. After a while, Rik asked, "Well?"

Kitty pulled her ear away from the tank, looking a bit confused. "All I hear is water." she answered. Rik went up towards the tank and scrutinized every inch of it. It looked pretty sturdy and there were pipes leading out of it to some place behind it.

"Could these be the tanks Mr. E told us about?" Violet asked uneasily.

"I don't know, these don't definitely look like your everyday water tank." Rik stated. "It looks way too sophisticated. Still… I'm starting to think that he didn't just bring us here by accident. He knows something, let's ask him."

"Speaking of the bloody maestro," James wondered, "where is he?"

As if to answer that question, they heard a loud clanking noise, then the buzzing sound of running electricity as well as the sound of an old rusty switch being turned on. After that, bright lights suddenly began slowly blinking from above them before finally turning on, lighting up the whole chamber.

"Thank God it still works." he said with relief as he hastily dusted himself. He then looked up at the tanks, a rather unexpected look on their teacher's face. Normally, people would often jump and run around excitedly if they made a discovery as big as the one Mr. E just made. However, the expression on the man's face was of different nature. He was rushing urgently towards one of the tanks as if something very precious of his was trapped inside the two large metal chambers. and was muttering something that the seven teens couldn't hear clearly. He then went towards them holding a few dusty rags.

"Yup, these are the ones." he said to them, his face more serious than they ever seen. "I'm gonna go back up and bring the rest of the people down here to check this out. Here." he said as he gave Rik and Kitty the rags.

"Eeeww!" Kitty squealed tossing her rag, which then landed on Rik's head. "Mr. E, what's this!?"

"Oh uh..." Mr. E then said, his face suddenly looking nervous. "That's umm… your detention." he said as quickly as he could before walking away at a fast pace.

"Say what!?" Jo yelped incredulously.

"W-well, I promised Principle Hardy that I would have you guys doing 'disciplinary labor'. So uh, clean those tanks while I'm gone ok?" the teacher stammered, no longer looking back for fear of the shocked and livid stares his students are now probably giving him.

"Wha-!? Clean the ta-!? Aw man!" whined Rik, taking the rag that Kitty threw at him and looking at the two insanely huge tanks.

"This isn't detention. This is child labor!" Mr. E heard the young man complain before he stepped on the elevator, he felt extremely guilty for just leaving them like that.

However, after a while, his face became serious once again as he looked up towards the mouth of the hole. His thoughts now drifting to the real reason he had all this set up.

_Just a little longer you two… I'll get you out of there. Whatever it takes, I promise._

Meanwhile, back down everyone was getting to work cleaning up the tanks. The mood was obviously less than cheery.

"Hey you know guys, I've been thinkin'." Jo said as he and Rik wiped the huge layers of dust on the second tank. "These are the tanks Mr. E told us about right?"

"He just said that, didn't he?" Kitty replied grumpily.

"But wouldn't that mean he could've right on everything else about 'em?" Jo added thoughtfully.

"What, you mean that there's one actual living human in each of these two devices?" Chris said in a cold skeptical tone, "Sorry, but that's scientifically impossible."

"Oh gimme a break Chris, your mind is scientifically impossible." Kitty remarked irritably as she furiously wiped something flat and circular stuck on the tank.

"This is just great…" she then said. "I just had my nails done, now look at 'em!" she cried, looking at her scratched nail polish. "Ugh, why is our principal such a total bi-Whoa!" she suddenly cried as a soft green glow suddenly lit up in her face.

"Hey, uh, you might wanna look at this!" she called. All of them gathered around her checking out what she found. Slowly they looked more closely inside, both fearing and anticipating what they would see…

What they saw stilled their breath.

Inside, suspended in a strange pale green liquid, was a young boy. He was completely naked, and his hair was flowing gracefully along with the strange luminous water. His eyes were closed, yet his face didn't seem to reveal a person in death… but a person in sleep.

"Oh… my… God." Kitty breathed.

"Could this be… an Apostle?" Chris asked his eyes wide with incredulity. "The servant of God that was tasked t-"

"He is sooo HOT!!!" Kitty then squealed.

Chris nearly collapsed on his knees as he looked at the pink-haired girl, wondering if she was for real. _A great awe-filled moment of discovery and all she says is…_

But before Chris could retort, he felt Baron tap his shoulder. "Hey", he said, pointing to the second tank. "You reckon somebody in there too?"

"Won't know till we find out." Jo answered as he and the rest of the boys went over to clean the second tank.

"C'mon Kit." Violet said as she pulled on Kitty's arm.

"One second alright I wanna get a good long look at his face." Kitty said dreamily.

"So you can have it in your dreams for the rest of your life?" Violet asked as she raised an eyebrow.

"Duh."

Violet sighed. "All right. It's gotta be up there with all the other movie stars and male models trapped in your head." she then said as she observed the boys from afar.

"There it is." Chris said after finished wiping the last bit of dust on the second tank's porthole. The boys then waited cautiously as the navy-haired young man peeped inside the hole. He then pulled his face away a bit, looking very unnerved and said,

"Hmm… this one's a girl."

However, the moment he said that, Chris knew he just said something he shouldn't have.

BAM!!!

The next thing he knew his head was being shoved in different directions as Jo, Baron, and James suddenly slammed themselves in trying to get a good look.

"Hey fool lemme see!"

"No way I got here first!"

"Oi, easy gents, we'll all get our fair share."

"Your crushing me you morons!!!"

Rik looked gloomily at the four of them, after a few moments Chris managed to get out from underneath and was now staring murderously at the three who were oogling at the young girl inside.

It was really hard to blame their behavior though. Chris was right. Inside the tank, similar to the young boy, was a girl, and not just any girl, but an angel… or at least someone who could easily pass for one. She had long silky hair that moved about slowly in the strange green liquid, and like her partner in the other tank, she was unclothed and her angelic face bore the look of one in deep sleep.

Baron wolf whistled as he looked inside, "Looks like we got an angel from heaven here boys!"

"Oooh yeah, now that what's I'm talkin' about." agreed Jo.

"Still, it's a crying shame these holes are too small. I can only see her face." James commented.

Suddenly a familiar voice spoke from behind them.

"Didn't your parents ever tell you that it's not nice to peep on girls?"

The boys jumped, but because they were so bunched up they winded up stumbling in surprise. When they picked themselves up again they looked up to see Mr. E standing between a bored Rik and a sour-faced Chris.

"Especially when they're not wearing anything…" Mr. E then added in a mock disapproving tone. "Tsk, tsk, naughty boys, very naughty" he said as he waved a finger at them.

"Aww cmon Mr. E it's cool man." Jo answered smoothly.

"Yes and for the benefit of your information we have not beheld any part of this young woman other than her visage, savvy?" James added, talking very fancily again.

"Yeah, yeah, save your excuses for later." Mr. E then said. "Now let's go, it's getting late, I promised your parents that you'll all be back before nine."

As the group made its way back to the elevator (Violet dragging a dreamy faced Kitty in tow), the team that Mr. E said that he'd bring down was already halfway in tinkering with the machinery. Rik observed them for a while but suddenly stopped when he noticed something. "Hey, what're they doing?"

A loud voice that rang through the whole chamber answered him.

"Ok systems ready! Prepare to open the tanks!"

The group flinched when the two tanks suddenly whistled loudly to life. Steam was now hissing from several of the pipes connecting with them. After wards a tube coming from each tank was slowly rising out from the top. Though he couldn't see for being so far, Rik already had a good guess on what, no, who were inside.

Everyone looked at Mr. E. Seeing that he had kept them in the dark long enough, he said in a serious tone. "All right, time to tell you. Cmon."

As the teacher and his seven students zoomed up the elevator, the two young Apostles, secretly known as Joshua and Azmaria continue to sleep peacefully. Not knowing the new journey that awaits their awakening.

**A/N**

WHEW!!! FINALLY!!! Like I said, I am REALLLY SORRY for taking forever to update! You can blame my sister for that, (oh and school, argh! SCHOOL!!) Also, if you have noticed, this chapter was used to introduce my OCs as well the return of Father Remington. If it looks like this chapter left you with a lot of questions to ask, then don't worry cuz that's exactly what this chapter was supposed to do mwahahah!! It helps you guess exactly what I plan for this story, (and believe I am planning a lot!) Your also free to see where I got the inspirations for my OCs J

Once again, I'm really sorry for not updating very frequently, (Trust me, when you're in college, chances are your life would really get turned into one huge jam-packed schedule. sigh )

I'm welcome to reviews (preferably many) suggestions (also many). Flames however, are completely forbidden in any of my fics review pages. If I see one, boy, you are asking for some reeeeaaaally serious PAIN!!!


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